Chapter 3: Finally Free

The group found themselves frozen at the edge of the jungle, staring at the beach where several ships were beached, the tide slowly coming in. Several ships that looked a lot like Cortes's.

"Now what?" Tulio whispered to Miguel who was on the horse, Esperanza in front of him and Chel behind.

"I'm not the planner here, you are," Miguel whispered back.

"I told you he was at the beach," Esperanza groaned.

"What are the odds of us coming back to the same beach we started at?" Miguel shrugged.

"Alright, everyone," Tulio called, quietly. "Off the horse, I have a plan."

"That quickly?" Chel wondered as Tulio helped her down.

"I'll need a little help from the ladies," Tulio said as Miguel and Esperanza frowned at him. Tulio smirked and nodded.

"I never thought I'd want to get back on one of these ships," Esperanza hissed as she and Chel climbed up a rope ladder to get onto one of Cortes's ships.

"Leave everything to me," Chel assured her. "I'll take care of it. All you have to do is follow my lead."

The two girls peeked over the railing and saw the sailors sleeping with bottles in their hands. Some kind of liquor, they guessed. Esperanza and Chel climbed quietly onto the deck, but as Esperanza was pulling herself over the railing, her foot caught and with a cry and a thud, she fell onto the deck. Chel rolled her eyes as Esperanza quickly picked herself up and acted as if nothing had happened, but it was too late.

The sailors had started awake at her fall and they were now all staring at the two girls. Chel laughed nervously as Esperanza waved with a small nervous smile, scooting closer to Chel.

"Hello, boys," Chel smiled coolly, flipping her long hair and placing her hands on her hips with a smile. "Bored at all?"

"That's Cortes's woman!" one of the sailors realized and Esperanza stared at them blankly.

"Well, that didn't take long," she muttered.

"We have to get her in the brig!" another sailor called. "Don't let her escape!"

"Not what I had in mind, but it'll work!" Chel said and ran to one side of the ship as Esperanza fled to the other. The sailors split into two groups: one group after Chel, the other going after Esperanza. The girls leapt over the side but held onto the railing as the sailors leapt out of the boat and into the water.

"Suckers!" Tulio yelled as he and Miguel rode Altivo toward the ship. The sailors tried stopping them but between Altivo rearing up and Tulio and Miguel kicking them away, they didn't succeed.

"Miguel!" Esperanza called as she and Chel had pulled themselves back onto the deck. Miguel looked up at her to see her throw a rope to them.

"How will we get Altivo up there?" Miguel asked Tulio who looked around the ship hurriedly as he heard the men behind them approaching.

"The long boat!" Tulio realized then shouted to the girls, "Lower the long boat a little!"

The girls hurriedly pulled at lines as Tulio socked a sailor trying to climb up the line Esperanza had thrown to them.

"Get the horse in the boat, Miguel!" Tulio growled impatiently, trying to hold off the sailors as he started climbing up the rope. Miguel backed Altivo from the boat then charged him and he jumped into the boat.

"Lift the boat!" Miguel called.

"Loose the sails!" Tulio ordered on the deck.

"We can only do one thing at a time!" Chel barked.

"Go help Tulio with the sails," Esperanza told her. "I can deal with this."

Chel nodded and ran to unfurl the sails as Esperanza tried pulling he boat up. She jumped with a start when Miguel suddenly leapt on deck and tugged on the line Chel had been manning. Altivo soon jumped over the railing and onto the ship.

"Who's manning the helm?" he asked and Esperanza looked around in uncertainty. "Apparently I am. Help with the sails."

Esperanza nodded and they hurried around the ship, unfurling sails, hoisting the anchor and casting off lines. Once in a while they would have to stop to shove some of Cortes's men back overboard.

They finally caught a wind and the ship started moving. They soon found themselves in open water, the beach they had been on becoming a distant speck in the distance. Esperanza watched in growing relief as they sailed away from the New World.

"Back to Spain, Tulio?" Miguel called from the helm as Tulio sauntered across the deck, Chel trailing behind him but Esperanza didn't move from the railing.

"That was the original plan," Tulio reminded him. "Now that we have a bigger, better boat, I'd say…yes."

Miguel nodded then noticed Esperanza still leaning on the railing. As Tulio came up the stairs to the forecastle, Miguel let go of the helm and headed down the steps toward Esperanza. Tulio glanced at him incredulously.

"Miguel?!" he called, but his friend ignored him, making him sigh in agitation and take the helm. Miguel stepped slowly toward Esperanza and leaned next to her on the railing as she only stared down at the water.

"Are you alright?" he hoped, clasping his hands together. Esperanza jumped and looked at him, her golden eyes wide in surprise.

"Pardon?" she chirped and Miguel chuckled.

"Are you alright," he repeated, gently.

"Oh…yes," she nodded. "I'm fine. I only…I never thought I would…"

"Get away?" Miguel finished when she trailed off. She smiled weakly and nodded, but when she looked back at the water, Miguel noticed her shoulders begin to shudder. He frowned and lifted a hand to place on her shoulder but she beat him to the punch and nearly rammed into his chest.

"I'm free," she sobbed as Miguel cautiously wrapped his arms around her. "I'm free!"

Miguel patted the back of her head gently as she snuggled her face into his shoulder.

"Not to worry," he soothed as steadily as possible. "We'll be in Spain again in no time and everything will be alright."

"There should be some maps in the captain's cabin," Esperanza shuddered and sniffled. "A compass as well, I think."

"Alright," Miguel murmured. "Thank you, Esperanza."

"You're welcome, Miguel," she sniffled and he gently tugged her chin up to meet her gaze with his.

"Feeling better?" he hoped and she chuckled with a nod as she whipped her tears away.

"Yes, thank you," she smiled.

"I'll go get the maps and compass for Tulio," he said. "I'll be right back."

Esperanza nodded and Miguel smiled then hurried to the captain's quarters as Tulio called out to him to know what he was doing. She turned back to watch the ocean and didn't notice Chel come up next to her.

"Miguel is sweet, isn't he?" she murmured and Esperanza jumped with a start, turning wide eyes to Chel.

"Pardon?" she squeaked and Chel smirked, leaning back on the railing.

"Miguel," she repeated. "He's sweet."

"Oh," Esperanza breathed then nodded. "Yes, he is. Very sweet." She looked back at the ocean.

"He's single, you know?" Chel continued and as she had suspected it would, Esperanza's attention turned to the comment.

"He is?" she breathed in fascination. Chel nodded slowly in confirmation with a smirk. Esperanza realized what she was doing and straightened to lean back on the railing as well.

"Then why aren't you with him?" she asked abruptly. Chel seemed taken aback but held her own.

"I was more attracted to Tulio's smarts than Miguel's ambition, which he also has," Chel retorted.

"Miguel is smart, too!" Esperanza snapped defensively, standing and turning to face her.

"Yes," Chel nodded. "But Tulio is the planner."

Esperanza nodded and leaned back on the rail.

"You like him," Chel blurted, causing Esperanza's eyes to widen again. Chel only smirked slyly. "I can tell. You blush around him."

"I do not!" Esperanza pouted and Chel chuckled then pushed off the railing and leaned toward her.

"Don't worry," she murmured. "I think he likes you, too."

Esperanza gasped and stared at Chel as she walked off to stand with Tulio at the helm. Miguel ran from the captain's cabin with maps and a compass. He ran to Tulio, nearly toppling Chel over as they went up the steps. He placed all the things in his hands on the table in front of the helm then turned to Tulio.

"You know how to navigate, right?" he asked, hastily. "You don't need my help, do you? I mean, you know where we're going and the best way to get there. You don't need me to navigate when you have Chel to help you." He patted Chel on the head as she passed him and Tulio frowned at him.

"Well…" Tulio began, but Miguel cut him off.

"Buena! Excellent! I'll just…be…" He gestured toward Esperanza who was still at the railing. "…yeah."

Miguel hurried back down the stairs as Tulio stared at him in astonished confusion. He looked at Chel who only smiled, knowingly and he rolled his eyes, realizing what was going on.

"Well, since Lover-boy's decided to ditch me, how about you take the helm while I take a look at those maps," Tulio suggested and Chel nodded, kissing him on the cheek as she stepped between him and the helm.

"Keep her on course," he instructed, walking to the maps.

"What course?" Chel smirked. "We don't even know which way we're going."

Tulio glared at her, but smirked, knowing she was right.

Miguel stepped up slowly next to Esperanza who noticed him and smiled.

"I'm back," he smiled, leaning next to her on the railing again.

"I see," Esperanza nodded, still smiling. They both looked back at the ocean and Miguel found himself wringing his hands as he leaned next to her and glanced at her a few times.

"Say something!" he told himself.

"So…" he tried. "What do you suppose that thing was in the jungle?"

"What thing?" she asked, honestly.

"You know," he insisted. "That thing that got Cortes's men."

"Oh, yes. Lovely subject to bring up," he thought, mentally kicking himself.

"Oh," Esperanza replied in a hollow voice. "I-I don't know. It was really strange, whatever it was."

"Yeah," Miguel nodded in agreement. "Strange."

"Now what, genius?" he asked himself irritably. He turned toward the helm to see Tulio and Chel both manning it, Tulio behind Chel with his arms around her on the helm. Miguel lifted a brow in thought then stroked his chin undecidedly, glancing at Esperanza. She was staring at the water again with an unreadable expression and he made up his mind to follow Tulio's example. Miguel slowly stepped behind Esperanza and placed his hands on either side of her on the railing, bringing them closer and making her straighten in surprise.

"M-Miguel?" she sputtered, feeling her face flush bright red, she was sure.

"Yes?" he asked, a bit unsure of himself. He wondered if she even wanted him this close to her.

"W-What will you do when we reach Spain?" she asked, moving her hands closer to his as they sat on the railing. Miguel straightened slightly and couldn't help but smile as her hands gently touched his.

"Well, that depends, I suppose," he replied, risking to step a touch closer to her as they looked at the ocean together.

"On what?" Esperanza wondered.

"On what I feel like doing," he smiled then shrugged, "or what Tulio decides we should do."

"Do you always listen to Tulio?" Esperanza smirked, glancing up at him over her shoulder.

"Not always," Miguel retorted. "I only do what he says when we're in a fix."

Esperanza nodded and a thought suddenly popped into her head.

"Where were you coming from when I ran into you?" she wondered, quickly and she felt Miguel stiffen. Her eyes shifted nervously as she said, "Never mind. It's none of my business. If you don't want to tell me---"

"No," Miguel murmured. "No, I do. I'm just wondering where I should start."

Esperanza sighed in relief then said, "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Miguel chuckled at that and slid his arms a little further in so that they were perfectly aligned with hers and half hugging her.

"Alright, then," he smiled with a nod. "It started back in Spain…"

A/N: and...we know that story. i figured i was neglecting Tulio and Chel's little relationship, so i checked myself. i tend 2 do that. reviews?